None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Congenital heart disease in adults is an increasingly important area. Aortic coarctation is a congenital cardiac condition; clinical presentation may vary from a patient with no symptoms to severe, early cardiac failure. Aortic coarctation is typically associated with high blood pressure or hypertension. Survival into adult life is excellent, however, a number of late complications are increasingly recognized. These include a tendency to difficult to control hypertension and the potential formation of cerebral aneurysm. An aneurysm is a weak area in a blood vessel that usually enlarges. It is often described as a “ballooning” of the blood vessel. Such cerebral, or brain aneurysms are potentially lethal. In this study, we are looking to determine whether patients with previous aortic coarctation repair may have disturbances in the blood flow in their brain. We will use transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) to measure blood flow in the brain to compare patients who have previous surgical repair of aortic coarctation with healthy control participants.
Interventions
We will evaluate the nature of cerebral blood flow using transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) as well as detect any abnormalities in the larger cerebral arteries in patients with previous surgical relief of aortic coarctation compared with healthy controls.
The procedure will take up to 60 minutes and will be performed by Dr Rachel Wong, the study coordinator, in week one. There is only one visit in this study.
TCD will be used to record mean blood flow velocities during quiet seated rest an
We will evaluate the nature of cerebral blood flow using transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) as well as detect any abnormalities in the larger cerebral arteries in patients with previous surgical relief of aortic coarctation compared with healthy controls. The procedure will take up to 60 minutes and will be performed by Dr Rachel Wong, the study coordinator, in week one. There is only one visit in this study. TCD will be used to record mean blood flow velocities during quiet seated rest and during 180 sec of hypercapnia. The cerebrovascular responsiveness to hypercapnia will be calculated as a percentage difference between the resting blood flow velocity and the peak velocity obtained during the hypercapnia. We will then compare the differences in responsiveness between patients and controls.
Sponsors
John Hunter Hospital
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Adult patients having undergone previous surgical repair of aortic coarctation in childhood, having measurable ultrasound signal on both sides of the head. Control participants should be healthy and without heart disease.
Exclusion criteria
Unable to obtain a measurable signal in both left and right MCA. History of cerebrovascular events including transient ischemic attack. Uncontrolled hypertension (>160/100mmHg) (measured at the visit to CNRC). Smokers or those currently on nicotine therapy.
Outcome results
None listed